


Card Tricks

by transtwinyards



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Magic, but yes it is pynch either way, it depends on how you look at the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 16:04:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4712039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transtwinyards/pseuds/transtwinyards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Pick a card,” Ronan said in this obnoxiously accurate carny voice. “Any card. You pick one, you pick ‘em all.”</p><p>“Do that voice again and I just might not,” Adam muttered, but he hovered his hand over the spread of it anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Card Tricks

A regular deck of playing cards hit his desk not even after five minutes of arriving in first period with Ronan. The room was still empty, and Adam wasn’t sure if he was more surprised about the loud noise that the deck made when it his desk, or if he was surprised about the fact that it was a deck of cards.

Honestly, he didn’t know what he was expecting. There was not much else Ronan Lynch did without spontaneity.

Adam blinked, once, twice when Ronan dragged a chair from across the aisle to lean into Adam’s desk. Ronan Lynch did not play card games before first period. Before first period, Ronan Lynch usually stood on desks and chairs, or made inappropriate jokes in Latin and wrote them on the whiteboard.

Ronan Lynch was not the type of person who sat down and played card games. Or, at least that wasn’t what Adam expected Ronan to be.

Without another word, Adam took the deck and shuffled it. He felt the warmth from the deck and wondered if it was because it was somewhere in contact with Ronan before Adam touched it, or if it was magic. He wondered if there was even a difference between the two.

Adam set it back down, pushing it an inch towards Ronan.

“Wanna see a card trick?” Ronan asked as he took the deck and shuffled it too.

Again, Adam could only blink. Ronan, he thought, didn’t look the type for card tricks either. Either way, he shrugged. Ronan was offering, and he seemed eager to show Adam something, based on the restless bounce of his knee that was shaking the desk slightly.

“Alright then, show me what you got.”

Ronan grinned, and then spread the deck with a flourish of his fingers. His leather bracelets made a sound against the wood. “Pick a card,” Ronan said in this obnoxiously accurate carny voice. “Any card. You pick one, you pick ‘em all.”

“Do that voice again and I just might not,” Adam muttered, but he hovered his hand over the spread of it anyway. He looked for the warmth, the warmest card he’d feel when his palm hovered over it.

It was there, so he picked it.

“Don’t show it to me,” Ronan said, gently pushing Adam’s hand away from the deck. He gathered the cards up again. “I’m going to guess what it is.”

Adam gave him an unimpressed look. That was such a common card trick. But he relented anyway, and sneaked a peek at his card. _Ace of hearts_.

Ronan shuffled the deck again, and then left it on the desk. “Alright then,” he said, rubbing his hands together. Adam didn’t know if it was for show or if it was genuine magic happening, or if Ronan was just going to be a douche about this.

“Parrish. Adam,” Ronan said, all-serious and looking Adam straight in the eye. His knee-bouncing inched a bit closer to Adam’s own knee, and Adam could feel the vibration in his bones. “Get your Latin text.”

Adam gave him a confused look, but then shrugged. He pushed his card away from Ronan, and grabbed for his bag. He set his Latin textbook on the desk between them.

“Page forty-three,” Ronan recited. Then, his face scrunched up in the process, as if he was trying to remember something. “Under the… _second_ paragraph. Tell me what’s there.”

Adam opened the book. Page forty-three. He swiped his finger down the page, one paragraph break, then the second. And _there_. Under the second paragraph, in Ronan’s handwriting and in a colored gel pen that he knew neither of them used, _ace of hearts_.

Adam felt the knee-bouncing freeze. He tapped his finger on the handwritten note and shook his head in amusement. “Ace of hearts,” he read, because he remembered Ronan saying to tell him what was there.

He looked up and gave Ronan an amused smirk. “I thought _I_ was supposed to be the Magician.”

Ronan gave him a laugh, one solid _ha!_ that filled the empty room. Empty except for the both of them. “Alright then,” Ronan said. He grabbed the deck and threw it on top of the ace of hearts card. “Show me what _you_ got, Parrish.”

Adam Parrish was never known to back out of a challenge. He was never known to play card tricks either. He found that he could probably do one of those things.

After a moment, Adam sighed. “Alright. Stand up and move three seats ahead of me. Yeah, there. Okay.”

Ronan took a seat three seats ahead of him. He twisted sideways on the chair to look at Adam. Adam looked back.

“Okay, Lynch. Ronan. Think about something that you want,” Adam said. He kept his gaze on Ronan. Ronan kept his gaze on Adam. “And take it seriously.”

Ronan gave him a smirk, “I _always_ take you seriously, Parrish.”

“ _Ronan_.”

“Okay, okay.”

Adam gave him one last look before closing his eyes. As easily as breathing, he was in Cabeswater, where Cabeswater had always been waiting for him, Cabeswater had found him. He never could tell the difference. He focused on his pulse and felt the pulse of the ley line beating with it. He listened and heard trickling water, heard trees rustling overhead, felt leaves by his elbow.

 _Ostende quid desiderat,_ he whispered to the trees. Leaves rustled, but it was too static. The pulse strengthened, which meant that it was affirming something.

He opened his eyes and had to adjust to the darkness of the room. The place behind his eyes was brighter than the room before him, even with the ceiling-to-floor windows that let the light in. He met Ronan’s gaze, which was already on him.

“Okay,” Adam said, and he felt a little dizzy when he did. He sounded like he was underwater. The ringing went away. “Reach into your breast pocket.”

Ronan kept his eyes on Adam. Adam kept his eyes on Ronan.

Ronan reached into his breast pocket, and then flipped a card out.

It was a tarot card. It had not been there five seconds ago. Adam felt a thrill go through him from the look of wonder that flashed on Ronan’s face. He _made that happen_.

“The Magician,” Ronan mumbled, loud enough for Adam to hear from three seats away and with one functioning ear.

He looked at Adam and smirked again, “Show off.” All casual.

Adam smiled genuinely. All casual.

**Author's Note:**

> edit: kudos to [epsilonAbsol](http://archiveofourown.org/users/epsilonAbsol/pseuds/epsilonAbsol) for correcting the Latin!!! Thank you so much!!
> 
> comments are appreciated!


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